Sunday, August 15, 2010

Where are the Virgins? Where's the Eternal Hellfire for Non-Believers?

For me, perhaps the most profound beauty of Heaven is its plurality and diversity of people. Heaven is dar al-salaam, the ultimate safe haven. It's a place for all those who have done good deeds - men and women, adults and children, Muslims and non-Muslims, peoples of all nationalities and cultures - to enjoy together and in harmony.

Wow. She makes Heaven sound like Mayor Bloomy's New York City--so pluralistic and diverse. And so different from my understanding of what Islamic texts say re the Afterlife--i.e. that it's what you might call Kafirrein. Also--"dar al-salaam": isn't that what Islam considers to be the ultimate "peace," the peace that connotes that Islam had finally achieved its desired primacy?

If Driving Miss Daisy can't come clean about the different fates awaiting believers and kafirs after death, what makes anyone think she'd be likely to tell the truth about life in an "interfaith" "Islamic center" before death?